1. Field of the Invention
A wire dereeler for dispensing wire coiled upon a reel having circular spool ends characterized by the ability to raise and lower a heavy loaded reel without hoists, ramps or inclines.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wire is usually handled by winding or coiling the wire upon a reel having circular spool ends. For instance, it is not uncommon to wind arc welding wire upon reels having a loaded weight of 1,000 pounds. Such reels must be handled by operators who position the loaded wire reel in dereeling apparatus which permits the wire to be dispensed by uncoiling the wire from the reel as the wire is consumed during welding. Usually, only a single operator is used to load and unload welding wire dereelers and because of the weight of a loaded reel, it is often necessary to use expensive hoists and the like to load the wire dispensers.
Some wire reel dispensers utilize inclined ramps and wedge surfaces upon which the reel, or its axle, is positioned such that rolling of the reel will cause the reel to move up the ramp or wedge to an elevated position from the supporting floor surface permitting the reel to rotate during wire dispensing once the weight of the reel is removed from the reel spool peripheries. The problem with this type of wire dispenser utilizing ramps or inclines is that considerable effort is required to roll a fully loaded reel up a slight incline even though the reel only need be elevated an inch or less to permit reel rotation during dispensing and safety of the operator is a concern. An example of a wire dereeler utilizing ramps is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,945.
It is an object of the invention to provide a wire dereeler wherein a heavy wire reel supported on reel end spools having circular peripheries may be easily raised by a single operator from a supporting floor surface to an elevated position to permit reel rotation to dispense the wire coiled thereon.
Another object of the invention is to provide a dereeler for wire wound on a reel having end spools having circular peripheries wherein a single operator may raise a fully wound spool from a supporting floor surface to an elevated reel rotating position without the use of power lifting equipment, ramps, inclines or hoists, and wherein the reel will be locked in its supporting structure during wire dispensing.
The invention is particularly suitable for dispensing arc welding wire, but can be used to dispense wire for other purposes. Wire reels may be of varying size and capacity, and larger welding wire reels weighing up to 1,000 pounds when fully wound can be handled by the invention. The reel consists of a central spindle having end spools of a flat configuration having circular peripheries whereby a heavy reel can be rolled across a floor surface upon the spool peripheries by a single operator. A central axial opening extends through the reel spindle and spools for receiving an axle during wire dispensing as later described.
The dereeler in accord with the invention includes a frame which may be formed of angle iron components, the sides of the frame being substantially identical whereby the frame sides are separated by a distance which permits a wire reel to be rolled between the frame sides, and the frame sides are interconnected at the rear end of the frame to maintain the spacing of the frame sides and permit control boxes and the like to be attached to the frame. There is no interconnecting structure between the frame sides at the front end of the frame which accepts the wire reel such that the wire reel may be rolled into the frame between its sides without interference.
A carriage is pivotally mounted upon the frame and is of a generally U-shaped configuration having a pair of arms interconnected by a base. The arms include outer ends which are pivotally connected to the frame sides, and the arms are spaced from each other by a distance permitting the wire reel to be received therebetween. Accordingly, the wire reel, when rolled between the frame sides, is also positioned between the carriage arms. The carriage includes an operating handle affixed to the carriage base located above the arm outer ends, and substantially spaced from the pivot supporting the carriage on the frame.
A cradle is mounted upon each carriage outer end including a semi-circular bearing supporting surface, and prior to the reel being rolled into the frame between the carriage arms, an axle is inserted in the reel axial opening having ends which extend beyond the reel spools. One of the axle ends includes a drive gear affixed thereto, and each axle end includes an anti-friction bearing, such as a ball bearing, whose outer race is received within an arm cradle when the reel is rolled into the frame.
A reel driving shaft is rotatably mounted upon the outer end of one of the carriage arms adjacent the associated cradle, and this drive shaft includes a gear which meshes with the reel axle gear when the reel axle is properly positioned within the associated cradle establishing a driving relationship between the carriage arm shaft and the reel. The carriage arm shaft also includes a belt sheave or pulley which is connected by a flexible belt to a transmission mounted upon the base of the carriage powered by a reversible variable speed electric motor. In this manner, the electric motor is in a torque transmitting relationship to the reel for producing reel rotation.
Initially, the wire reel will be supported by the floor surface upon which the frame is supported. Once the reel axle bearings are properly located within the carriage arm cradles, the operator grasps the carriage handle and pushes the handle rearwardly toward the frame base. This force applied to the carriage handle pivots the carriage about supporting pivots toward the frame base and, due to the position of the carriage pivots to the cradles, the cradles will raise the reel sufficiently to lift the reel spool peripheries from the supporting floor surface to permit the entire support of the reel to be through the reel axle bearings and carriage cradles. The carriage handle is pushed rearwardly until stops defined on the carriage engage stop surfaces formed on the frame. At this position, the axle of the reel, which defines the center of gravity of the heavy wire reel, will have passed through the vertical projection of the pivots supporting the carriage, and due to the weight of the reel, this over-center relationship of the weight of the reel with respect to the carriage pivots will maintain the reel in its elevated position permitting the reel to be rotated by the motor, transmission, belt, arm mounted shaft, shaft gear, and the axle gear.
An axle lock is associated with the carriage cradle upon which the reel drive shaft is supported. This axle lock consists of a lever or latch which is pivotally mounted on the cradle and superimposed over the reel axle bearing adjacent the reel gear during dereeling and this axle lock firmly maintains the reel axle bearing within its cradle insuring proper meshing of the axle gear and drive gear during reel rotation and preventing inadvertent disengagement of the axle from its cradles. The axle lock may be manually operated, but in the preferred embodiment, an axle lock operating link is interposed between the axle lock and the frame so that the axle lock will automatically be positioned in its operative condition when the carriage has been rotated to raise the reel from the floor surface in order to permit reel rotation and the link automatically opens the cradle to receive or release the reel axle bearing.
When it is desired to change wire reels, the operator grasps the carriage handle and pulls it forward away from the frame base. This action, initially, requires the reel to be slightly raised until the center of gravity of the reel passes through the vertical projection of the carriage pivots and continued forward movement of the carriage and reel due to the carriage pivotal action will lower the reel until the reel spool outer peripheries engage the floor. This forward movement of the reel will cause the axle lock to pivot to an open position through the actuation of the axle lock by its operating link, and once the spool peripheries engage the floor, the reel can be easily rolled forward disengaging the reel axle bearings from the carriage cradles and the reel removed from between the carriage arms and frame sides. A new fully wound wire reel can then be rolled into the dereeler frame, and the process previously described is repeated. It is to be appreciated that it is only necessary to raise the wire reel less than an inch to remove the reel""s weight from its spools, and the mechanical advantage achieved by the short lever arm between the carriage pivots and the center of the reel axle as compared to the much greater lever arm between the carriage handle and its pivots permits a fully wound reel to be lifted by one operator the necessary height between the loading and unloading positions of the carriage wherein the reel is supported upon the floor, and the wire dispensing or rotating position of the reel wherein the reel is lifted from the floor and its rotation driven under the influence of the electric motor and associated drive components.